Unauthorized
MASON BATES SILICON HYMNAL
for two violins, bass, orchestra & electronica
Instrumentation
2 Flutes (2nd doubling Piccolo)
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets in B-flat
2 Bassoons (2nd doubling Contrabassoon)
4 French Horns
3 Trumpets in C
2 Trombones
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
2 Percussionists:
3 very high triangles, vibraphone, piccolo snare, bass drum, Djembe, ride cymbal, glockenspiel, drum set, shaker (one-shot), Tam-tam, rute, crash cymbals, suspended cymbal
Harp
Piano (Doubling Celesta)
Soloists: 2 Violins (1 doubling Mandolin) & Bass
Laptop
Strings
Program Note
The Silicon Hymnal is a book of songs with a heart of electronica. Created for the uniquely gifted Time for Three, whose members can play (and sing) in any style, this triple concerto unfolds in progressively more expansive movements.
Hypnotica mixes meditative textures between soloists, orchestra, and electronica, drifting in and out of focus in a dreamlike manner. The ensuing Phat reel combines a heavy beat (‘phat’ in hiphop parlance) with a reimagined fiddle ‘reel’ – a jaunty folk tune of Scottish origins – in a lopsided dance that swaps violin for mandolin. Air for three floats a double bass melody over airy violin textures and jazz harmonies.
The work takes a deep dive in Abide with me, an atmospheric recasting of the 19th Century hymn known for its plaintive calls for guidance amidst the darkness of “eventide.” At the most vulnerable moment in the movement, the soloists are called to sing the hymn itself.
All thematic elements return in the barnburner Finale, making boisterous cameos over an engine of perpetual motion. Analogue and digital figuration swirl together in an exuberant close.
SILICON HYMNAL
I.Hypnotica
Oboe 1.2.
Contrabassoon ( player 2)
Horn in F 1.3.
Horn in F 2.4.
Trumpet in C 1.2.3.
Trombone 1.2.
Bass Trombone
Tuba Timpani
Percussion 1 ( triangles)
Percussion 2 ( ibraphon )
B.
B.
III.
B.
B.